Footprints: ‘Phenomenal’ mother Nedris Smith now free of pain

On Saturday at 11 a.m., there will be a thanksgiving service for the life of Nedris Smith, born Nedris Ennis on June 1, 1940. Mama, as she was called by her seven children, made the transition on Friday, May 8.

The thanksgiving service for the mother of six girls and one boy will be held at Bread of Life Ministry, Vanity Fair, Linstead, St Catherine. It will indeed be a service to give thanks to a 'phenomenal woman'.

Hers was a life of fighting many stormy battles for her children.

"Battles which she won because she was like a lioness protecting her cubs. She was always our greatest defender," her daughter, Joy Redwood of Excelsior Community College, said. "She was our hero."

Smith proudly and single-handedly raised her seven children, who gave her 11 grand and 10 great-grandchildren.

"Mama was more than just a mother ... . Nothing was too good for us, no challenge was too great, and no task was too difficult," Redwood said of the former restaurant operator who attended Seafield Elementary School in St Catherine.

She was born in Golden Grove in the same parish and went to church at Gospel Hall.

"She was a Christian until the very end, serving the Lord faithfully, and giving her best to His service. She nurtured us like any Christian mother would, always sending us to Sunday school, praying for us, and leading us with godly wisdom. Her prayers are what kept us, and her Christian walk has left an indelible mark on our lives," Redwood said.

Smith's passing is a 'bittersweet' one for her children. They are smiling at what they had, but mourning what they have lost.

"We have lost our best friend, we have lost our confidante, we have lost a virtuous woman. We have lost one who was a mother to the very end.

"Her mortal body, once ravaged with sickness and afflicted with pain, has now been redeemed, unleashing her soul into eternity's bright day. A painful longing in our hearts we may feel, but still we smile because we know that her soul has been set free," Redwood said.

- P. H. W.